Another chapter has finally arrived! Guess what? This month marks (1 year) since "Titans of the Hyrax Island" came out. I'd like to apologize for the delay, I needed a break from writing. I also would like to thank White Hunter and Calvin (Guest) for their reviews. It's been real busy since the cold weather arrived especially since Halloween and Thanksgiving came around the corner. Anyway, please sit back, relax, and enjoy!


There was darkness. There's something to the feeling of not knowing your surroundings, not seeing the colors of things as they appear, but as they truly are. There's something about the unknown, the quiet, and the cold. There's something unspoken about the dark, something we can never quite put words to. One thing for sure was… it was terrifying…yet very beautiful.

It was back up on the surface and the golden armored mammoth was standing near the edge of cliff observing everything being burned down into ashes when suddenly two of his silver rogue armored soldiers came up behind him. They appeared rather roasted with smoke steaming from their burnt bodies. The two knelt down showing their leader respect.

"Sire" both silver armored mammoths said

"Aah" said the golden armored mammoth, "I'd take that you have good news for me?"

One of the silver armored mammoths stepped forward, "Yes, sire. Half of our troops are searching the lands as we speak"

"We were able to round up most of the survivors, sire" said the second silver armored mammoth, "A few, however, managed to get away"

"Others…weren't so lucky" said the first silver armored mammoth

(THE GOLDEN ARMORED MAMMOTH SNICKERED EVILLY)

"Excellent!" the golden armored mammoth replied, "I assume you both have brought me what I want"

The two silver armored mammoth looked at each other with nervousness on their faces and they gulped. The golden armored mammoth could tell by the looks on their faces that something went wrong. But the golden armored mammoth wouldn't let anger consume him…yet.

"You know, I couldn't help notice that you two look rather, fried up, for some reason. Is there something you want to tell me?" The golden armored mammoth asked, in a suspicious tone

"Sire…uhh…don't take this too seriously, but, we did what you asked us to do but…but…"

"…the boy got away, sire"

(GOLDEN ARMORED MAMMOTH GROANED ANGRILY)

"YOU…LOST…HIM!" The golden armored mammoth yelled

"It wasn't our fault, sire. The meteors landed right in right of us and…" said the second silver armored mammoth, attempting to explain

"IDIOTS, MORONS, SCHMUCKS!" yelled the golden armored mammoth, "I asked you to do ONE thing and you both failed MISERABLY!"

As much as the news pissed him off, the golden armored mammoth soon got a hold of himself and took a deep breath.

(GOLDEN ARMORED BREATHE'S IN AND SIGHS OUT)

"No matter. I'm sure he's probably rounded up with the rest of the slaves back at the palace. In meantime, I must return to my duties. The rest of you continue searching for more survivors" the golden armored mammoth ordered

The two silver armored mammoth bowed their heads in reply, "Yes, your highness"

"One more thing," said the golden armored mammoth, "Have any of you seen the Black Prince?"

The two shook their heads in reply, "Not since yesterday, my lord. No one knows where he's at"

The golden armored mammoth made a 'hmm' sound, "I might have hunch where he's at. Have one of our flyers search the countryside for him. If it has founded his location, one of you will report it to me at once"

"Yes, sire"

The golden armored mammoth nodded, "Good"


Morning finally came. Except everything was damaged all over. Meteors were hit in every direction. The entire forest was burned to ash as some of the fires kept on going disintegrating what was left of the remaining trees. No one was around. Not animal or human. Everything was completely demolished. It was like that moment when you actually feel the pain in your chest from seeing or hearing something that breaks your heart. But that didn't affect the Herd as Manny moved the trees and some of the ice rocks out of the way for everyone to come out.

When Manny stepped into the light, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was too devastating. Everything that was once living is now dead.

"Oh, man" Manny said, lowering his head

Sid and Diego then came out of the cave alongside with Roshan, Runar, and Lee as the five observed the land along with their mammoth friend. They couldn't believe their eyes either.

"Is everyone okay?" Runar asked

"I think so," Roshan replied, "Lee, how about you?"

Lee yawned and nodded, "I'm fine big brother"

Sid tapped his saber friend on the shoulder, "Diego…are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Diego nodded, "Sid, for once, I'am seeing exactly as you are"

"Papa?" Lee said, "Where is everybody?"

"Yes, father. Do you mind wanna tell us what's going on?" Roshan questioned

Runar sighed, "I really don't know, son. Somehow everybody in our village has disappeared. As if they were taken or something. I'm not exactly sure though. I looked around and there was no trace of anybody. But when I saw that rogue mammoth army…they just…started tearing everything to pieces"

"Nobody's around? How can that be?" Roshan said

"Rogue mammoth army?" Manny asked, "You mean mammoths did all this?"

Runar looked at Manny with a mad expression, "Do you mind? I'm trying to talk to my boys. This conversation doesn't concern you"

Manny was offended by the man's tone of voice and the mammoth stepped forward, "Well excuse me, but it is my concern considering I got separated from my family last night!"

"I don't need to tell you anything!" Runar said, talking back

"Hold up!" Roshan exclaimed, "Father…you-you-you can understand him?"

Runar's eyes widened having totally forgotten that he drank some of Roshan's potion from last night which gave his brother and him the ability to understand animals. Runar looked at his son, who was bewildered, and he tried to think of something easy to say but it was too difficult for him to even explain it.

(RUNAR STARTED STUTTERING)

"Father, did you drank some of my potion?" Roshan asked

Runar sighed in defeat and nodded, "Yes…yes I did"

Roshan felt his heart racing and he stumbled backwards a little. His father can understand animals now?! How could it be? Was this a dream or a nightmare?

"Son, please…" Runar said, attempting to explain. "I know how crazy this sounds. But you can be relieved to now know that you were right and I was wrong"

"B-But how did you…" Roshan asked

"…Your uncle talked me into believing you really can talk to animals with your special potion. So, he and I drank some of it, and before we knew it we were actually hearing words come out of the animals mouths. Just like we heard this 'fat one' open his mouth just now" Runar explained, pointing at Manny

"HEY!" Manny shouted, "Why does everybody do this me? I'M NOT FAT! I'M POOFY!"

"Yeah...and cranky too" Runar said back

(MANNY GROWLS FURIOUSLY AT RUNAR)

"Wait…my uncle?…you mean Ragnar drank it too?!" Roshan asked

Runar nodded in reply only giving Roshan a bigger headache.

(ROSHAN GROANS IN ANNOYANCE)

"Okay, okay, we get it! Calm down" Diego said, "Right now we have bigger problems"

Roshan took a deep breath and sighed, "Right"

"Gee, would you get a look at this place. It's trashed! I hope the rest of our Herd made it" Sid pointed out, referring to the other Herd members

"Now that you've mentioned it. My wife…my cubs…I have to find them. They need me!" Diego said, panicking

"Well, I need to find my Granny!" Sid said, panicking. "She's probably worried sick about me!"

"My wife and daughter are out there somewhere. I'm not losing them again. That's happened to me too many times!" Manny said, panicking

(ROSHAN WHISTLING)

The three stopped and turned to Roshan, who was standing on a rock trying to get their attention.

"Look, I know you're worried about your families. So are we. But panicking isn't going to get us nowhere. What's important right now is that we need to figure out what the hell happened and how this whole thing started" Roshan stated

"Roshan's right," Sid said. "We gotta suck it up and have a little faith in ourselves, fellas. After all, why should we be worried that are family and friends are out there lost in the woods probably dying or better yet freezing to death out there somewhere that we don't know about….."

(DIEGO CLAMPS SID'S MOUTH WITH AN APPLE)

"I think we understand" Diego said, rolling his eyes

Manny looked at Runar, who looked away from him, making the mammoth frown. But he wouldn't let out his anger on him, especially not at his young human friend. Manny knew how concerned he was for his family's sake and would do anything to find them again. So in deep thought, the mammoth decided to put his anger aside him and calmed down.

"Alright kid" Manny said. "You've got our attention"

Roshan smiled. "Okay, first things first. We have no idea what started this. My father says he has no idea what happened to our people. But he did mentioned something about a rogue mammoth army"

"Rogue mammoths?" Diego asked

Runar nodded and stepped forward, "Yes. These rogue mammoths, I think, are probably the cause of what made this mess happen"

Sid quickly observed their ruined land and gulped nervously. "I refuse to believe, but I believe it anyway"

"I did notice most them we wearing silver protective armor. Best we can gather, they must be the slaves working for whoever is responsible" Diego stated

"But our only problem is who?" Manny pointed out

"Right" Roshan replied

"There was 'one' mammoth who looked different from the rest. It wore gold protection armor. I think maybe…he could be the leader" Runar said, referring to the golden armored mammoth

Roshan knew exactly what his father was talking about and he stepped in, "I think you got something there. I saw him too"

"Me too!" Lee said, raising his hand. "It spoke to big brother"

Manny, Sid, and Diego walked a little closer to the humans and they said together, "It did what?!"

Runar placed both hands on Roshan's shoulders and said, "It spoke to you? What did it say?"

Roshan tried to get his thoughts in place. After all, Lee was telling the truth since, HE TOO, saw the whole thing. Roshan cracked his neck and inhaled deeply letting out a sigh and began telling the others what he saw and what he heard.

"It said, 'Surrender now or face the consequences,' and he told his soldiers to 'bring him to me,'" Roshan explained. "At first, I didn't understand what it was telling me. But now I'm thinking…it was talking about me"

The group was bewildered yet extremely confused. It was STRANGE. Why would the golden armored mammoth want Roshan? No one knew what to think or what to say as it remained a BIG mystery to all of them. Manny has known many mammoth's in his valley for years but never has heard of one trying to hunt down a human before. Even Diego and Sid didn't knew any other mammoth in the valley, except for Manny and his family, and they never befriended any other mammoth throughout their years with the Herd.

Sid clenched his finger tips into his teeth, "Well, that doesn't sound good"

Manny then stepped into the conversation,"This doesn't make any sense. Why would a rogue golden-armored mammoth come into our valley, burn our homes, and say it wants YOU?"

"I'm not sure. I was hoping maybe one of you knew why" Roshan said

"We don't know, kid" Diego said, "All we've ever known is since the day we returned you back we've been pretty much dealing with our enemies"

"Yeah, we don't know nothing about this guy" Sid said, referring to the golden armored mammoth

"And even if we did know, we'd give you very little information" Manny replied

"True that, but…now its become a problem. For all of us" Runar said, "And if this guy really wants you, my son, then that means you're no longer safe here"

"So what are you proposing, ol' timer?" Manny asked

Runar eye-balled the mammoth with a brow, "I propose that 'we' step up. We hunt this guy and take him down so he won't hurt anybody else"

Roshan tugged his father's shirt, "You want to go towards the mammoth's who tried to kill us?"

"If it means taking the risk…then yes" Runar replied

"Ooh…that'll be a problem" Sid said


The others noticed Sid was standing near the edge of a cliff. The group looked at each other in confusion before they all walked towards to see what the sloth was observing in front of him. Once they got up close, when much to their horror, couldn't believe what was happening down at the valley. From a far distance, the group saw dozens of animals with vines tied around their mouths and wrapped around their legs as if they were all prisoners. Several silver armored rouge mammoths were guiding from below making sure none of them tried to escape. They used whips to force the mammals to move forward in order formation. The group even saw some of the animals were whimpering in fear but a lot who were crying; especially the little ones. It was a devastating sight.

The group watching from up above couldn't bare to watch another second of it and they looked away. Both Manny and Diego got very furious by this. Sid felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Runar held Lee close as the young boy cried a little. And Roshan was just completely speechless.

"Why are they doing this…WHY?!" Roshan said, in his thoughts

Roshan then looked at his three guardians who were suddenly in a very emotional trance right now. They had families of their own, but after being separated from them from last night, they feared the worst of what's become of them.

"Guys?" Roshan called

"Well, this is just GREAT!" Manny said, furiously. "Our entire home has been taken over, my family is missing, and—and….."

"Guys?" Roshan called again

Diego then stepped into the argument and he furiously said, "Your family? What about mine! My wife is out there, my cubs are all alone and probably scared to death, and—-and….."

"…And my Granny doesn't have any teeth to chew with!" Sid cried, fainting to the floor

"GUYS!" Roshan shouted

(LOUD NOISE ROARS OUT OF NOWHERE)

The three mammals jumped by the loud sound and they all looked at their human friend in bewilderment.

"Geez, you don't have to be so noisy" Sid said

"What are you talking about? That wasn't me" Roshan confirmed

"Wasn't me" Runar confirmed

(LEE SAID NOTHING AND SHOOK HIS HEAD)

"Then who did?" Manny questioned, suspiciously


Suddenly another noise was heard again but only it was coming from a gigantic hole from beside them. The group was concerned before they all began walking towards it anyway.

Manny decided to get a better look as the mammoth looked down inside the hole.

"Uh…hello?" Manny called out

The mammoth's voice echoed but there was no answer. Smoke continued steaming out from the inside before suddenly a shadow popped up, scaring the mammoth.

(MANNY SCREAMS)

The shadow continued moving. Everyone started to get scared. Sid screamed and clenched onto Diego, wrapping his arms around the saber's head. Runar held onto Roshan and Lee; not letting them go out of his sight. Manny got ready in case of an enemy ambushes them. They were all preparing for the worse until the three saw that it was their only one-eyed weasel friend.

"Yeah! Oh! Hello, mammals" Buck said

"What the—…" Runar said, as he and his sons stared at the weasel in confusion

"I don't believe it" Manny said, in bewilderment

"Its Buck!" Diego replied, happily

"Hi, Buck!" Sid exclaimed

"Hi…" Buck said, before falling back down into the hole

"Bye, Buck!" Sid exclaimed, "Come back next year!"

Buck threw his knife up. "Um, a little help?"

Manny began pulling and not only helped Buck out, but he also removed the totem pole from inside as well. Buck flew out screaming only hit right on top of it, injuring a bone.

Buck twisted his body, and began poking at it, "Right on the spleen! Utterly useless, but totally hurts"

Roshan, Runar, and Lee were very confused by what was happening. But their three animal friends were very happy to see their the weasel friend was here. But what they weren't very sure was why he was here in the first place.

"Hey, Buck," Diego said, smiling. "Welcome back, buddy"

"I'm confused here. Who is this guy?" Roshan asked the saber

"That's Buck, kid. The one-eyed lunatic we've told you about" Diego told him

"Wait, you mean the one with he eye patch, the one with the tooth-shaped knife, the dinosaur whisperer? He's that weasel?" Roshan asked, referring to Buck

(DIEGO NODDED IN REPLY)

"Who'd you expect…someone your own size?" Diego joked

Suddenly Buck popped up on the human boy's shoulder in surprise, "And let's not forget expert salsa dancer"

(SALSA MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND AS BUCK STARTS TO DANCE ON ROSHAN'S ARM)

"Whoo! I have one eye but all my original teeth. Would you like to count them?" Buck asked, and he opened his mouth wide

Disgusted, Roshan chuckled nervously and shook his head, "No thank-you"

Buck moved on to a different mammal, which was Runar. "Hmm, I ain't seen anything like this in years. And would you look at all that hair on the face and…BLIMEY!…you even got it on top of the head, under the arms, chest, and legs! So what are you supposed to be…a hairless monkey?"

Runar scolded the weasel until he heard quiet chuckling coming from the mammoth beside him. The man frowned before turning back to his conversation with the weasel.

"No, I'm a human…and that's body hair to you. It grows on all humans" Runar confirmed

"Well, I don't see any other mammal who has that kind of disease, mate" Buck said, crossing his arms

Runar's eyes lowered in boredom, "But…you're a mammal. You've got hair all over your body and its always been there!"

Runar pointed out and when Buck observed his entire body knew the human man was right!

Buck made a 'hmm' sound and looked back at Runar, "Crikey! You're right! Remind me to shave in the spring time"

Runar's expression suddenly went into an awkward state. He turned to his son, Roshan, as he too didn't know what this weasel's problem was and the boy just shrugged his shoulders up in reply.

"Buck?" Lee said

(BUCK GASPS)

"Well, I'll be as happy as a dead weasel in the sunshine! Good to see you again, lad!" Buck exclaimed, shaking the young human by the hand

"Huh?"

"Wait a minute. Lee, you know this weasel?" Roshan asked, pointing to Buck

Lee happily nodded, "He's the one who led me to you guys"

Roshan and Runar exchanged stunned glances to each other. Manny, Sid, and Diego did the same as they suddenly began speechless by this.

"You mean…he's the reason you got here, son?" Runar asked

(LEE NODDED IN REPLY)

"But that was only yesterday" Roshan pointed out

"I know. But if it hadn't been for him I never would have made it here" Lee said, making Buck feel flattered

"Well, I'll be damned" Runar replied

"So, you two must be his 'new family,' eh? Well, let me just say how lucky you both are to adopt someone as special as him. This lad's been quite the real help serving his duty with me down in the Dinosaur World" Buck said, talking about Lee

"Hold up, you've seen the Dinosaur World?" Diego asked the little boy

(LEE NODDED IN REPLY)

Roshan snickered, "So, it does exist"

"Well, Lee, I don't know what to say. But if this weasel is your friend then that makes him my friend too" Runar said, and he gently shook Buck's paw

"Same" Roshan said, and gently shook the weasel's paw

"Thank you" Buck said, "I like you monkey's already"

"Buck," Manny said, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I…" Buck paused when he heard something from a tree stump in his mind. "What?" He paused again. "I'm trying! But how do you tell someone they're doomed?" He paused again as he looked at the group. "He stumped." The weasel started laughing as much as the nut he was.

(BUCK STARTS LAUGHING)

"We're not doomed, Buck," Manny said, "It was just a meteor shower, and the show's over"

"Uhh, do you forget what's happening down below the valley…" Runar pointed out

"Shut up" Manny grumbled under his mouth

"Oh, quite contrary, old chap," Buck said, "It's just beginning. You see, I found a prophecy." He showed them the totem pole as Sid and Lee started banging on logs with sticks.

(SUSPENSEFUL DRUMMING PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND)

Manny grew irritated with the noise and skipped away the sticks from them. "Do you mind?"

"Boy, he must really suck the fun out of everything, doesn't he?" Lee said

"Fun sucker!" Sid shouted


Buck led the group over to the pole statue, "I read the tablet front to back. And the story it tells us is very disturbing. You see, many years ago when the dinosaurs were still alive underground lived a rightful king and his lovely young queen in a kingdom. But the king wanted power! So, he amends his troops to do a cleaning by getting rid of half of the world's mammal population. And on that day, he succeeded that purpose! But that wasn't the only kind he wanted to wipe out. Next on the king's list, the monkeys…or as you would call them…humans. King, troops, death, boom! Bye-bye"

Sid snorted. "Stupid mammals"

"That's us," Diego said sternly. Sid screamed in fear

"Well at least now we know more now," Roshan said, "Rogue mammoths take over our homes, kidnap our people, and are now hunting the humans"

"There's just one thing I don't get. The golden rogue mammoth says it wants Roshan. How come?" Manny asked

"I might be able to answer that" Buck said, "The prophecy also mentions of a boy with the ability to understand animal tongues from the heart who would one day overthrow the king's rise to power. So as a king, grew jealous and proposes on catching this boy and demolishing him once and for all!"

"You mean…he wants…to kill him?" Lee asked, referring to Roshan

Buck nodded, "I'm afraid so"

Roshan felt his gut tightening in his stomach as if butterflies were forming inside it. Runar was already freaking out by this and began pacing back in forth with his hands over his head. Manny grew even more furious by this news as he Diego and Sid started to grow scared for their human friend.

"But no worries," Buck said, "Because I've got a plan"

"Really?" Manny asked, "To stop a mad king?"

"Look, half of the rogues have sealed off most of the land, but not all of it. But they're going to as they move closer. We've got to go underground and find the lost kingdom and find out where they're keeping the hostages so that we can save them and foil the king's plan for good" Buck explained his plan

"That sound's suicidal if you ask me" Sid replied

"Nobody asked you anything" Diego confirmed sternly

"Let me get this straight," Manny said, "Instead of running away from a deadly king you want us to run directly towards it"

"I know it sounds suboptimal, but the good news is he'll kill us no matter where we went even as long as we remain up here" Buck said

"Well, that's reassuring" Diego said

"Okay, but even if you get to this so-called kingdom how are we supposed to change what is literally written in stone?" Manny asked, pointing to the tablet

"Ah, my cynical friend," Buck said, "The dinos were wiped off the face of the Earth, but some escaped. They changed their fates and we can change ours, too. Who's with me?"


Everyone looked at Buck for a moment before they all huddled together as they tried deciding what was best. Should they go with Buck's plan or should they stick with their own?

Manny looked at everyone, "So, what do you think?"

"Honestly, I'm worried the weasel's right," Sid said

"Not that I'm disagreeing with anything but he's kind of out of his mind" Runar said, stepping in

"I'd say we just go along with anything he tells us," Roshan said, "After all, he's given us the information we need. He could help us. All of us"

"Big brother is right! Buck maybe coo-coo in the head but he has brains that no one has seen before," Lee said, agreeing with Roshan

"No!" Buck exclaimed in a girlish voice. "Don't listen to the weasel. He's a raving loon!"

Everyone stared at Buck and the weasel started laughing again.

(BUCKS LAUGHS)

"Sorry. I just love playing devil's advocate. And looking FABULOUS!" Buck exclaimed, strutting along like a woman

"Well, Buck has saved our lives before, right?" Diego asked

"But what if he can't this time?" Sid asked

"I seriously don't know what to believe," Roshan said, "But I'm afraid our lives will be over before they begin. I don't want that to happen to anyone especially our families. I say we fight back!"

Roshan raised a hand out in front of the huddled group as he waited to see if anyone would join in. Lee smiled by his big brother's bravery and joined in. Runar knew his people were out there somewhere, and he would risk anything to protect them especially his children, and he too, joined in on the agreement. Manny, Sid, and Diego looked at each other with hesitation for a moment until their decisions were final. It was a big YES for Buck's plan!

Manny walked over to Buck, "Okay. I guess we're in"

"Excellent!" Buck exclaimed, "Now, we better get on the road because time till devastation is roughly three days, four hours, one minute and sixteen seconds. Fifteen seconds, fourteen seconds…"

"I think we get it," Diego said

"I think we're all gonna get it," Manny said

"Put a cork on it, big mouth" Runar told him, as he picked Lee up and carried him in his arms

The group began to follow Buck as they all went inside the gigantic hole that would hopefully lead them to the Dinosaur World. As for the rest of everybody else on the surface…they were all on their own now. Especially for their separated Herd members. It would seem that their dangerous journey was about to begin!


Phew! Another chapter completion. Looks like Manny, Sid, Diego, Buck, Roshan, Runar, and Lee are off on a dangerous quest to the forbidden underground land of the Dinosaurs. But what will become of the other remaining groups? Anyway, please review and stay tuned for another exciting chapter soon!